Report: HTC to Unveil Standalone VR Headset at Vive Developer Conference in November

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HTC could be showing off its standalone VR headset at the company’s November 14th Vive Developer Conference (VDC) in Beijing. As reported by YiVian, the conference has recently published promotional material featuring a veiled image of the company’s upcoming headset. To wit, HTC says it will have ‘some important announcements’ to make.

First teased at Google I/O 2017 developer conference, both HTC and Lenovo announced they were building standalone VR headsets featuring inside-out positional tracking for the Daydream platform—or in HTC’s case, the Viveport platform in China.

YiVian, an English-language publication that covers China’s tech industry, has recently come across a promotional flier for VDC 2017 which positions the shrouded Vive standalone in an unhatched egg – to be revealed at the conference in Beijing at the Crowne Plaza Beijing Sun Palace on November 14th.

While it’s no means a final nail in the coffin, the official promotional flier says (in English) “a new revolutionary immersive experience is here. Stay focused on the next wave of innovations in VR.”

Digging into trademark registrations, YiVian also found that HTC has recently registered the name “Vive M” in China, possibly meaning ‘Vive Mobile’—a move that would position the new standalone as somewhat of a little brother to the tethered PC VR Vive headset. Both ‘Vive Focus’ and ‘Vive Eclipse’ have been registered in the West however, making it less clear what name the headset will take and where.

image courtesy HTC

The crucial difference between current mobile headsets like Gear VR or Daydream View is the inclusion of positional tracking thanks to the headsets’ inside-out tracking capabilities. Built with help from Google, both HTC and Lenovo’s headsets are based off Qualcomm’s ‘VRDK’ reference device and built on the Snapdragon 835.

HTC and Lenovo standalone headsets are shown alongside what appears to be a standard Bluetooth 3DoF Daydream controller as well. Both companies are staying mum on any other specifics, although Google said to expect them some time in 2017.

As usual? What do you consider “usual” in this brand new VR industry which has just barely begun?
The Vive vs Oculus paradigm which dominated conversation in 2017 ended with the game-changing Summer of Rift sale. Yes, Vive had room scale 1st, and Touch was late to the game. True. Oculus is playing the long game which includes building a new platform from scratch. The release of Go is imminent, as is the new HTC standalone. My guess is Oculus will either release Go before HTC releases theirs, or will at least open up pre-sales to blunt any 1st to market advantage HTC might try to gain. But that is pure speculation on my part. Oculus has thrown down the gauntlet by announcing their intention to get a BILLION people into VR. “Go” is their opening salvo. “9-12 months behind”?
I respectfully disagree.

dk

the touch controllers were out 9 moths after there was a full room scale system on the market…..and at that point they have been showing the controllers for a year and a half and they delayed the controllers mainly because they were waiting for game developers

and after that they were insisting on the non 360 game play with the front 2 cameras setup and for months didn’t “officially” support more cameras until they updated the system way later

and at the end of this more or less 12 months they realized that they r falling behind and dropped the price to keep up with a full system with controllers and great room scale support since day 1

and now they r releasing the all in one gear vr when there will be at least 2 all in one daydream headsets with 6dof tracking at the same time ….making the Go look like completely obsolete last gen device

I like Oculus……………..I just hate it that it looks like they r dragging their feet mainly because of nothing else but stupid tactics even with a giant like FB backing them up

CURTROCK

Yup. Everything you stated is accurate, from the standpoint of a tech/enthusiast. (Of which I am one also). I just think none of it matters. FB is playing to win, long term. If you take the sum total of FB/Oculus VR efforts, they are looking good. (Late as they may be)
Cheers!

dk

I really don’t get why they r not picking up even more speed ….they should really release a 6dof go at least 6 months after the go is out it can’t be more that 50-80 bucks more …..depending on what qualcomm platform is needed for 6dof

daveinpublic

Well, as Shigeru Miyamoto said, if you release a bad game on time, it will always be a bad game. If you release a good game, late, it will always be good. And the same can be said of Vive’s wand controllers. Oculus waited, and now it’s paying off, because the controllers are widely considered the standard in VR gaming. Which is a big part of a system.

Also, Oculus has many firsts in VR. They were the first to announce the current wave of VR. They have the first all-in-one VR headset coming, Santa Cruz, with 6DOF and 6DOF controllers. Also, they’re implementing Dash, which will allow you to use Windows apps while playing. And they’ll have a virtual home that your friends can actually visit. Not only are they ahead of the pack, but they’re doubling down with Go, summer sales, and lots of R&D.

dk

well they don’t have “the first” great quality consumer full vr system with 6dof controllers with great room support ……..they were 9 months late or even more if u count the updates and more cameras support
……not that who is first is that relevant …..just mentioning it as far as “firsts”

…..I just perceive them as this giant ……and they r doing pretty good job …..and with facebook behind them I just expect a lot from them

user

but can they win in china?

daveinpublic

Sounds like you’re a big fan… “I like Oculus……………..I just hate it that it looks like they r dragging their feet”

You forgot to mention the Santa Cruz will be the first all-in-one VR headset, and it’s from Oculus. They’re actually ahead of the pack. When Santa Cruz comes out, there will be no other VR headset that is 6DOF with controllers that have 6DOF. That’s gonna be a game changer, literally.

dk

I mentioned that that won’t be on the market before the end of 2018 or even early 2019……and at that point u would have had at least 2 headsets with 6dof (yes 3dof controllers)
and I mentioned it because they r making a gearvr when people r making a tracked headsets
…..who knows what else will be out by the end of 2018 ……all in one cheap gearvr should have been a thing from the beginning of oculus

the gear is absolutely the same as the go the only difference is ….it won’t drain your phone battery
and santa cruz won’t be out until something like the end of 2018 if that
and at the same time the go is on the market there will be at least 2 all in one daydream headsets with 6dof tracking making the go look like a crappy toy in comparison

Walextheone

Nopes. The Go doesn’t need a $700 phone so that’s a pretty big thing compared to Gear. Also the performance is better. The lenses are one gen later. The displays are better. That quite some list. But you are more after pushing an agenda than facts so this will maby be some “fake news” from you stand point :D

6dof is cool but that is not what makes something a toy or not. It’s the eco system. If the headset gets to warm too fast or if there are sub par games etc.

dk

u mean the phone that u were going to get anyway and the phone can do daydream and oculus home and instead of getting gear vr for free of discounted or for 90$ for the casual gear vr user instead u spent $200 which in Europe will be who knows what………..and in the mean time on the market there will be at least 2 all in one headsets with 6dof a real distinguishing feature from sticking your phone into goggles

daveinpublic

Without 6DOF controllers.

daveinpublic

Neither one will have 6DOF controllers, but Santa Cruz will, plus the 6DOF headset. It’ll be true, stand alone VR, for the first time.

dk

like I mentioned yes…..but they r making a gearvr all in one when people r making 6dof headsets……and something like santa cruz is not coming any time soon

Andrew Jakobs

It think you’re very optimistic about the pricerange, I think it will be more like $400-$500..

dk

why it can be as cheap as a Go + 2 cheap crappy cameras like the win mr headsets r using
but most likely will be snapdragon 835 + the 2 cameras which could be as cheap as 300 or 350

HTC’s headset will likely have access to the mobile-focused Viveport app store that will be very similar in function to the Daydream store in the West — so no crossover between Steam or the PC-focused Viveport store. You should expect both HTC and Lenovo’s headsets to play bespoke games created especially to use the 3DOF controller and 6DOF headset, as an overwhelming majority of room-scale VR games are developed specifically to work with 6 DOF motion controls and ‘scaling down’ wouldn’t solve the inherent input problem.

I hope now that Microsoft and Oculus have shown how standalone headsets can have decent 6DOF controllers, Daydream will have reconsidered and come up with their own 6DOF inside out controllers. If I worked at Tiltbrush or Owlchemy within Google, I’d be pushing hard for that..

dk

the 2 headsets with 6dof will have only 3dof controllers they just don’t want to push the hardware too hard

OkinKun

Well.. My $200 for a stand-alone headset is already reserved in my mind, for the Oculus Go. So unless this has better specs for a similar price, naw. heh

I will be purchasing the first high resolution inside out stand alone headset that is available. Santa Cruz is slated as 2019…. Oculus is looking to be falling behind HTC… We will see what happens this month…